2008–09 IFA Championship

The 2008–09 IFA Championship (known as the Ladbrokes.com Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the first season of a major overhaul of the league system in Northern Ireland. The 2008–09 Championship consisted of one division of 17 clubs, with the clubs having intermediate status. The Championship served as the second tier of Northern Irish football for this season. With no promotion from the IFA Interim Intermediate League this season, from next season the division would be reduced to 14 clubs, with the newly introduced Championship 2 having 15.

Portadown were the champions, achieving promotion back to the top flight after only one season of absence. Donegal Celtic finished as runners-up but lost out on promotion as they were defeated on the away goals rule by Dungannon Swifts, when the Promotion/Relegation play-off finished 2–2 on aggregate.

The bottom 3 clubs (Tobermore United, Dergview and Killymoon Rangers) were relegated to the newly introduced Championship 2 for next season.

IFA Championship
Champions Portadown
Promoted Portadown
Relegated Tobermore United
Dergview
Killymoon Rangers
Matches played 272
Goals scored 886 (3.26 per match)

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Portadown (C) (P) 32 25 2 5 88 23+65 77 Promotion to 2009–10 IFA Premiership
2 Donegal Celtic 32 24 1 7 65 27+38 73 Qualification to IFA Premiership play-off
3 Loughgall 32 22 4 6 77 29+48 70
4 Ards 32 20 5 7 53 26+27 65
5 Ballinamallard United 32 19 6 7 73 47+26 63
6 Coagh United 32 19 4 9 60 43+17 61
7 Banbridge Town 32 15 5 12 66 671 50
8 Ballymoney United 32 12 7 13 41 35+6 43
9 Larne 32 12 7 13 53 563 43
10 Carrick Rangers 32 12 6 14 56 53+3 42
11 Glebe Rangers 32 9 7 16 37 5619 34
12 Armagh City 32 8 8 16 39 6122 32
13 Limavady United 32 9 3 20 46 7226 30
14 Ballyclare Comrades 32 8 6 18 34 6228 30
15 Tobermore United (R) 32 7 5 20 34 6430 26 Relegation to 2009–10 IFA Championship 2
16 Dergview (R) 32 6 1 25 31 8453 19
17 Killymoon Rangers (R) 32 4 5 23 33 8148 17

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Interim Intermediate League

From next season, the IFA Championship would consist of two divisions, Championships 1 and 2. The IFA Interim Intermediate League was introduced as a temporary league for the 2008–09 season only, consisting of the former members of the IFA Intermediate League (dissolved in 2008) who did not meet the criteria for the new Championship 2; it consisted of 12 clubs. Members of the Interim League had one year to make improvements in order to gain entry to Championship 2 for next season.

10 of the 12 clubs managed to meet the criteria, along with Sport & Leisure Swifts and Knockbreda who both achieved intermediate status, with only Brantwood and Oxford United Stars failing to do so. Harland & Wolff Welders were the champions. There was no promotion from the Interim League which meant that Championship 1 would be reduced to 14 clubs, with Championship 2 having 15.

References

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